Don't Startle the Snorkacks
by wintergreen825
Summary: Seriously. That's a thing you do not want to do.


**Legal Disclaimer:** I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

**Warning:** This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if that's you.

**Author's Note:** Seriously, google "Chitwan National Park" and drool over all the pretty pictures. You will want to go to Nepal, too.

**Submitting Info:**  
**Stacked with:** Hogwarts (Term 10); MC4A  
**Individual Challenges:** In a Flash (N); Gryffindor MC (N); Ravenclaw MC (N); Neurodivergent (N); Quiet Time (N); Ethnic & Present (N); Click Bait It; Yellow Ribbon (Y); Yellow Ribbon Redux (N); Sett to Destroy (N)  
**House:** Hufflepuff  
**Assignment No.:** Term 10 – Assignment 6  
**Subject (Task No.):** Biosciences (Task 12: Write a story that takes place in a country that is landlocked)  
**Other Hogwarts Challenges:** 365 Words (327: Twisted); Insane Prompt Challenge (674: No Femslash Pairings)  
**Space Address (Prompt):** 4C (Pink)  
**Representation(s):** Autistic Luna Lovegood; Autistic Harry Potter; Luna Lovegood/Harry Potter  
**Bonus Challenges: **Wabi Sabi; Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; White Dress  
**Tertiary Bonus Challenges:** T3 (Terse; Terrarium)  
**Word Count:** 695

(^^)  
**Don't Startle the Snorkacks**  
(^^)

"It's because Snorkacks are so similar to Erumpents," Luna explained, her voice breathy from the exertion of their hike. Her tone had gone flat again, but Harry found he didn't mind that as much as he had back in Britain. Sometime during their prolonged holiday, he had learned to let go of a lot of the lessons he had learned from the Dursleys on the importance of acting 'normal'. Luna helped by explaining some of the things that he had missed while clinging to the futility of earning their affection. It did often lead to things like this, however, where he explained something that had happened and Luna explained the side that he hadn't asked or thought about while it had been happening. This particular discussion was about his visit to the Rookery during the war. "They're cousins, both to each other and to rhinos. Someone who isn't familiar with the species would confuse their horns."

"Is that why we're here?" Harry asked, nearly tripping over a root. "I thought that Snorkacks were supposed be in Sweden, not Nepal."

"_Crumpled Horn _Snorkacks were last seen in Sweden," Luna countered before veering off the fading forest trail in favor of one that led up the jagged cliffside they had been following for the last half hour. Harry spared a thankful thought about having mastered Apparation before following the blonde. Chitwan National Park was _huge,_ and they had already been out here most of the day. Walking back to the hostel would not have been possible, and the hostel was where they had left the camping equipment. "_Twisted Horn_ Snorkacks live in Nepal. According to last reports, there was a breeding population here, just over this ridge."

With the timing he had come to expect from Luna, they reached the top of the cliff just as she had finished her explanation. Before them spread a steppe covered in the scrub grass mixture that grew anywhere there wasn't trees in the Kathmandu region. Scattered across the space like wildflowers were at least a hundred rhinoceros-like creatures that were distinguishable from their mundane cousins by the bright flamingo-pink of their spiraled horns and wool-like fur. They were also the size of an exceptionally large housecat. The nearest ones lifted their head at his and Luna's appearance but returned to their grazing as if humans were boring.

"They're pink," Harry stated, feeling a bit stupid immediately after the words left his mouth.

Luna bumped his shoulder with hers. The gesture made his cheeks flush for a reason other than embarrassment. After nearly a year of traveling with her, he could admit to himself that he was developing what was probably crush, even if it didn't seem to match any of the things he had heard from the other boys in the dormitory over the years. He could have asked Luna, but she had a way of knowing the things he wasn't saying, and Harry wasn't ready to have someone else know how he felt.

"They're pink," he repeated. He suddenly recalled something he had learned about back in primary school. "Is it because of their diet? What would they eat here that would turn them that color?"

"There's a flowering grass that grows in the area," Luna explained dutifully. "Something in it makes magical creatures take on reddish hues. No one can explain it yet, but it does make it easy to identity which beasts have magic and which don't."

"That's amazing," Harry marveled, looking back over the herd. "Simply amazing."

"Don't startle them," Luna warned when he took a step closer. "They throw off sparks that turn whatever they touch pink for a long time."

"How long?" Harry asked warily. Luna laughed quietly.

"It wears off of skin in a year or so."

Harry promptly tried to put Luna between him and the nearest Snorkack, making her laugh louder. The cluster of Snorkacks nearest them startled in to a flurry of baying pink sparks. They both got drenched in the tingling magic. Harry sighed as the sensation faded, leaving behind patches of flamingo pink on his skin and clothing.

At least it was merely a color change this time.


End file.
